


i can't help myself but stare

by pastalover



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop & Tattoo Parlor, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-03
Updated: 2017-06-03
Packaged: 2018-11-08 10:25:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11079660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pastalover/pseuds/pastalover
Summary: Kara hasn’t been stalking the florist per se, it just so happens that she knows the other woman usually arrives early to pet the cat that hangs around the stores, and she pays special attention to the white flowers by the window, and-Ok, Kara needs to find a new hobby.





	i can't help myself but stare

**Author's Note:**

> thanks to lake tahoe and seattle for reading over this for me

It’s not that Kara doesn’t have a reason to visit the flower shop close to her; she gets quite a few people coming in for floral tattoos, and they'll mention seeing the flower in the window next door, finding out the meaning, and wanting it tattooed on them.

Kara can admit that the flowers her customers bring in are remarkably beautiful and obviously well taken care of, she almost hates pressing the ink colored flower onto the person. 

And now she’s in the shop. Well, she’s about to go in. Well, she’s  _ supposed _ to be in the shop with Alex. Alex wanted Kara to help her pick out a bouquet for Maggie for their date later that night. Kara suspects Alex knew of her stalking (no, not stalking, interest) in the shop, Kara was aware that she was terrible at being subtle and it really wouldn’t be a surprise if Alex had just invited her for a chance to actually go in the store.

Taking a deep breath and steeling herself, Kara pushed the door open. She wasn’t assaulted by scents like she thought she would be; it was subtle. She took in her surroundings: little cacti and blooming flowers.

Kara was not prepared to meet the florist, like at all. She had only seen her from far away, but even from that distance, Kara had been able to tell that she was beautiful. Up close she was a goddess. Her dark hair was pulled up into a ponytail that brought attention to the shining green of her eyes and accented her jaw, something that Kara bet could cut glass like butter. She wondered what it would be like to thread her hands into that hair and-

Alex coughed. Kara knew she had been staring too long. She jumped and blushed, having forgotten her sister was present at all.

“Hi- hi, I’m Kara.” Kara stuck out her right hand and adjusted her glasses with the other , as the florist met her with a smirk.

“Nice to meet you, Kara,” She may or may not have shivered when hearing her name and may or may not have wanted to hear it again in a different context. “I’m Lena.”

Kara mouthed the name as Lena let go of her hand and turned back to Alex, who had been watching Kara with interest.

“So,” Lena put her hands together and ‘ _ oh my god, Kara might actually be dead, Lena's smile was even better than she could have imagined. _ “Let’s find you the perfect flowers.”

* * *

Kara stares down at the succulent and the single yellow rose.

She had bought the succulent on a whim and had been nervously browsing as Lena helped Alex pick out flowers to use and didn’t want to be caught staring  _ again _ when a plant caught her eye. The plant was short and grew out from the middle of the pot with little spikes at the end. The color seemed to go from a green around the edges, fading to a blue within the center. 

She had carefully carried the plant to the register, knowing her tendency to accidentally break things. Lena had smiled as she set down that plant and Kara had missed everything that came out of her mouth because she was pretty sure Lena’s smile would be the death of her, and Alex had been giving her that look again, which meant she was staring and not responding.

Lena had laughed as she fumbled to get her wallet out and Kara was pretty sure her whole face was red by the end of the transaction. Lena had then wrapped a yellow rose in plastic and slipped it in her hands. 

“It’s on the house,” was said, accompanied by a wink and Alex dragged her out the store, mouth opening and closing as her face heated up yet again. 

Alex had tried getting her to talk, but she had been much too focused on the rose in her hand. Alex walked her back to her tattoo studio and clapped her shoulder before leaving with her flowers. 

Kara immediately set down her plants and looked up the meaning of a yellow rose. 

_ Friendship, she wanted to be friends,  _ Kara had smiled wide and she put the succulent near the front by the window and found a vase for the rose, setting it on a counter near her area. Her fingers ghosted along the petals as she thought of Lena, and the bell rang as a customer walked in.

* * *

“So, when are you going to ask her out?”

Kara jumped slightly and pushed her glasses up. Jimmy was leaning across the counter and staring pointedly at the flower she had just been holding, a habit she seemed to have picked up when bored.

“I don’t know what you mean, I was just admiring the flower.” Kara turned her head and stared back down at the rose. 

“Uh-huh,” Jimmy makes a noncommittal noise and pushes away from the counter, heading towards his area.

The rose stayed alive for a past few days as Kara tried to lengthen its life, but the petals had slowly started wilting on the edges. She hadn’t gone to see Lena since the first visit. Kara still saw her open the shop and now when she would walk by Lena would call out her name for a quick ‘good morning’ or ‘hello’. She never gets a chance to actually talk to the woman, which is good, because Kara isn’t sure if she would even be able to make a complete sentence in her presence if she did. 

The bell above the door rings as someone enters. Kara knows she doesn’t have any planned appointments, but she always welcomes walk-ins. She looks up, about to greet the customer, when she is faced with bright green eyes.

“Hello, Kara,” Lena breaks into a smile and Kara isn’t able to breathe for a moment.

“H-hey Lena,” Kara’s hand goes to push her glasses up, “Uh, what brings you around here?”

“I’m getting a piercing.” Kara knows she should show Lena to Jimmy, but she can’t quite bring herself to turn away from her.

“Oh? Where?” There’s now a smirk on Lena’s face and Kara almost wishes she hadn’t asked.

“Just a tongue piercing.” 

Kara’s pretty sure she had stopped breathing and that her mouth was hanging open because the image of Lena with a tongue piercing was sending her brain over the edge. She realizes Jimmy must have greeted Lena as she sees her walk out of her line of vision with a self-satisfied smile, and Kara thinks it’s deserved because now she can’t stop thinking about kissing Lena. 

* * *

Kara uses the piercing as an excuse to talk to Lena, asks if she has any side effects, if she’s taking care of it (which she obviously is, but Kara just wants to make sure that she’s not in more pain than necessary). Lena visits Kara now, whenever she has the chance, sometimes stopping by while she’s applying a tattoo or when there are no customers around. 

In those moments, Kara learns about Lena’s love of all flora and how she’s adopted, same as Kara, and how her mother wanted her to take on the family business, but she hadn’t wanted to live in the shadow of her brother any longer. At that, her voice had gotten less enthusiastic and a frown had started to appear.Kara wanted to make that frown disappear.

“Lena, your flowers are one of the best parts of National City. People always compliment their beauty and they’re always willing to buy more flowers from you. Do not sell yourself short because of your mother's expectations.”

Kara became aware that she had grabbed Lena’s hand somewhere during her rant and looked up to see if it was okay. Lena was smiling looking down at their joined hands, and Kara took that as a good sign.

“You’re too kind.” Lena took her hand and put it on top of Kara’s while smiling up at her. Kara decided then that she wanted to make sure Lena always smiled like that.

It didn't help that Kara had already developed a crush and she was just falling head over heels for Lena.It didn’t help that Lena had begun giving her new flowers as soon as the old ones started wilting. She's pretty sure James and Alex had a bet going on about when she and Lena would start dating.  

She had given her few more flowers that meant friendship, then it became sincerity and compassion and beauty and ones that were any combination of those. Kara’s eighty percent sure that Lena shares her feelings, but if she was it would be ruining a friendship she greatly appreciated and she didn't want to lose that.

* * *

“You know, these flowers remind me of home.” Kara had been admiring the white flowers by the window, the ones Lena always seemed to pay special attention to.

“The plumerias?” Lena came around behind Kara and gazed down at them. “They're rare flowers. People tend to flock to them, so I have to make sure they look nice.”

Kara’s aware of Lena’s eyes as she bends forward to smell the plumerias, feeling her heart clench at the reminder of her lost family. When she opened her eyes, Lena was staring at her with a strange look. It was like Alex’s eyes whenever she gushed about Maggie, wide and shining, full of happiness. When Kara went to go back to her shop, Lena had put together a three flower bouquet of plumerias.

“What? N-no, Lena, you said these were rare!” Her arms waving rapidly in the air. “You don't have to you.”

“Yes, I do.” Kara could only stare because there was  _ something _ in her voice and her eyes were really green and bright and just how could Kara say no?

When she took the flowers back to the store, she prepares herself to tell Lena how she feels about her.

* * *

She regretted her choice the second she walked into Lena’s store. A red rose? Really? How cliche could she get, plus it's not as if Lena’s surrounded be flowers every day. But Lena’s already seen her and she can’t just walk out now.

Kara can see Lena looking curiously at the rose in her hands while Kara’s hands go to fiddling with her glasses and can already feel her face turning red. 

“I got this for you.” Kara all but shoves the rose in Lena’s face and waits as she calmly takes it. “Umm, I was hoping that you would go on a date? Wi-with me.”

It seems almost as if she’s inspecting the flower, looking for any flaws, and Kara nervously flutters her hands as Lena stays silent.

After what seems like an eternity to Kara, Lena says, “You couldn’t have at last gotten it from my store?” Kara would have believed she was hurt if not for laughter that Lena seemed to be holding back. Lena’s eyes were sparkling as she smiled at Kara and her shoulders rose slightly up and down.

“Uh… What?”

“I’m mean, it’s a very pretty rose, but you can see the florist cut the stem too short, and the flower is already wilting around the edges.” 

Kara is almost certain that Lena’s making fun of her, but she doesn’t know how to respond. She watches as Lena walks around the counter and goes to pick a red rose from her collection. 

“See, look at the differences.” 

All Kara can do is stare while silently wishing she could speak somehow.

“But,” Lena’s smile breaks out at this, “I do appreciate it.” 

Lena comes up to Kara then, and wow she smells like her plumerias and all Kara can see is green and dark hair as Lena kisses her cheek. Lena’s lips are soft against her skin and Kara wants to taste them over and over again. 

“How does this Saturday sound?” Kara’s pretty sure she’s nodding and has a goofy smile on her lips, but so does Lena so she’s not too embarrassed. “Great, see you then.” 

Kara watches her wink and she stumbles back to her store. It’s not until she gets there that she realizes she’s still holding the rose Lena had compared to the one she got her. Smelling the rose, Kara can’t help but grin at her luck, she had a date to get ready for.

 


End file.
